First Exhibition Game, Friday

BY ANDRES FOCIL

The University of Arkansas men’s basketball team takes the court on Friday night, Nov. 4, in their first exhibition game of the 2011-12 season against the Texas A&M-Commerce Lions, at 7 p.m. in Bud Walton Arena. Fans have been able to see the Razorbacks play two times this preseason, but never as a unit and Friday’s game will give everyone inside Bud Walton Arena an opportunity to watch head coach Mike Anderson patrol the Arkansas bench for the first time since 2002. His style of play, known to many as the “Fastest 40 Minutes in Basketball,” is an offshoot of his mentor Nolan Richardson’s “40 Minutes of Hell” and is fast paced, up-tempo and in your face. His teams have regularly been among the NCAA leaders in steals, assists and assist-turnover ratio and his squads thrive on points off turnovers. The Razorbacks are coming off a season in which they went 18-13 overall and 7-9 in Southeastern Conference play. Seven players return from that squad and a highly touted recruiting class joins the bunch as the Razorbacks look to improve on last year’s record and make a post-season run. The Lions return three starters from last year including the Lone Star Conference’s Preseason Player of the Year, Desmond King who averaged 16.1 points and 7.0 rebounds as a junior. He is joined by Brad Hambrick and Austin Brown as returning starters and the trio helped Commerce to an 18-9 record overall and second-place finish in the Lone Star Conference. Season tickets for Razorback basketball games are on sale at the Razorback Ticket Center by calling 1-800-982-HOGS or by going on-line at ArkansasRazorbacks.com. Ticket packages are $500 and include admission to all 20 regular season games at Bud Walton Arena as well as both exhibition contests. The Arkansas-Texas A&M-Commerce game will be broadcast on the radio across the Razorback Sports Network from IMG College with Chuck Barrett and Rick Schaeffer giving the call. Following the contest with Texas A&M-Commerce, Arkansas returns to Bud Walton Arena on Tuesday, Nov. 8, for their final exhibition game against Christian Brothers beginning at 7 p.m.